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ALEX BROWN AND ISRAEL
As C.E.O. of America's oldest investment bank, Krongard was well placed to assist companies spawned by Israeli military intelligence. Under Krongard, Alex Brown became a leading U.S. partner for these Israeli companies. In May 1996 Krongard and Mayo A. Shattuck went to Israel on a three-day trip during which they met with then prime minister Shimon Peres. As the Baltimore Sun reported shortly before their trip to Israel:
A. B. Krongard, Alex. Brown's chairman and chief executive, and Mayo A. Shattuck III, president and chief operating officer, are to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Dov Lautman, the prime minister's special emissary for economic development…
"Obviously, this is a trip of some significance," Mr. Shattuck said. "We want to be perceived as the premiere underwriter and adviser for high-tech and health care companies in Israel. The time has come to build stronger affiliations at the senior management level."
The meeting with Mr. Peres was arranged through Giza Group, one of Israel's leading private investment banking firms, Mr. Shattuck said.
When Alex. Brown officials meet with Mr. Peres, they expect to talk about how the company can link Israeli firms to U.S. capital markets, Mr. Shattuck said.
Alex. Brown, which had $809 million in revenues in 1995, is known worldwide for its expertise in taking high-tech and health care companies public. Last year, it managed 64 initial public offerings, tops in the United States.
R. William Burgess Jr., head of Alex. Brown's technology investment banking group, compared Israel to Silicon Valley in California and Route 128 in Boston, which have spawned some of the world's largest high-tech companies.
"My hope would be to do several initial public offerings a year for Israeli companies and several mergers and acquisitions," said Mr. Burgess, who will also make the trip.
Alex. Brown has been doing business with companies in Israel for at least five years.
In 1996, Alex Brown was serving as the financial advisor for Scitex, an Israeli company connected to military intelligence. Yair Shamir, the son of Yitzhak Shamir, the Zionist terrorist who killed Folke Bernadotte before becoming prime minister, was general manager of Scitex. Krongard's three-day visit to Israel and meeting with the prime minister was arranged by the Giza Group, a Tel Aviv-based investment banking firm.
At the time of Krongard's visit, Aviv Boim was a vice president of Giza Ltd. Boim remained at Giza for two more months, until August 1996, and then joined Krongard's company as an associate of Alex Brown from August 1996 to February 1998. Aviv Boim worked with Alex Brown's technology group in London, where he managed initial public offerings, mergers, and acquisitions concerning Israeli companies.
On October 2, 1996, the Baltimore Sun reported that Krongard was "still bullish on Israel." Krongard had addressed the Maryland/Israel Development Center the previous day. "There is great market demand for Israel's products," Krongard said. "Israel has the brain power. Its human capital is exceptional."
The Maryland/Israel Development Center was started in 1992 as a nonprofit group to form business partnerships between Maryland and Israeli companies. The article noted that just the week prior to his speech at the Maryland/Israel Development Center, Krongard and Alex Brown had taken the Israeli company Orckit Communications Ltd. public. "Tel Aviv-based Orckit makes systems that enable telephone companies to provide high-speed voice and digital transmission," the Sun reported. Yair Shamir was a director of Orckit.